Labor Temple - Missoula, MT
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
N 46° 52.235 W 113° 59.555
12T E 271945 N 5195131
Missoula's first Labour Union Hall was constructed on this spot in 1896 but burned to the ground in 1911. This more substantial brick building replaced it five years later, opening for business in 1917.
Waymark Code: WMMZ0Q
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 11/26/2014
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member ZenPanda
Views: 1

Labor Temple
In 1896, a Union Hall was constructed here on property donated by copper magnate Marcus Daly. That building served as local headquarters for unions affiliated with Federal Union Local 83, the precursor of the building trade unions that later organized into separate crafts. When first completed, the facility also housed Missoula’s only theater and hosted the town’s 1896 Democratic Convention. By 1904, fifteen unions were affiliated with the Missoula Trade and Labor Council.

These included the Stationary Engineers, Federal Labor Union No. 43, Printers, Carpenters, Woodworkers, Cooks and Waiters, Plumbers, Lumber Workers, Farmers, Barbers, Electricians, Retail Clerks, Painters, and Bricklayers. The original wood-frame union hall burned in 1911, and construction of a new building was not begun until 1916. When the present temple opened in 1917, the second and third floors housed union, lodge, and dance facilities. The ground floor and basement accommodated a Dodge automobile dealership. Though the windows are now infilled with glass blocks and the street level bays remodeled, the upper façade with its metal cornice, pilasters, and decorative capitals reflects the period’s Prairie style of commercial architecture. Owned by the Union Hall Company (in which local unions own stock) since 1908, the temple is Missoula’s only building clearly associated with the growth of the national labor movement.
From the NRHP Plaque
Describe the area and history:
Once the meeting centre for as many of fifteen unions, this hall has served labour for decades. It is on East Main Street, surrounded by many other buildings that are its contemporaries, a smattering of newer buildings and a few vacant lots.


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